Custard Tarts

Sitting in Etihad’s lounge at Abu Dhabi, munching on some really excellent custard tarts. Every time I do this trip, I have a fruit platter on the plane, arrive in the lounge feeling virtuous (as you do) and then go completely mad eating loads of custard tarts 😱 For the record, the pain au chocolat is pretty good too 😋

My invisible travelling companion, depression, or, as I’ve named it, the Black Hole, is taking a back seat at the moment. Mr. BH first appeared in my life in 2005 when I was diagnosed with cervical cancer, which triggered early menopause, and dissolved all hope of becoming a Mum. Most of the time, I successfully keep B Hole at bay. However, this last 12 months has been a constant struggle, with many hours spent trying to scramble back up those Black Hole walls. For now, I’ve made it back up those walls, standing at the edge of BH, and that’s okay 👍

The adventure begins….

Well, here I am, sitting in the first class lounge waiting for my flight to London…….aaaarrrrrggggghhhhh…..I’m really doing this!!

7 weeks ago, I was employed at B3 (Big Balls Bank) as a technology executive. I was working from home to review confidential proposals from our service partners, when I got a call requesting a face to face meeting, that day, with one of my 2 bosses (don’t you just love matrix reporting 😬?) The urgency was a surprise, I jumped in a cab and raced into head office….where I was advised that, due to cost pressures, I was being laid off. Great……

Two truths: 1. even though it was a shock, it wasn’t a huge surprise, my team was small and niche, and a great candidate for consolidation….2. after two very successful, but hellish, years, I’d had enough and was ready to leave. So, my second reaction to the news was relief 😅

The following weeks were filled with a wiiiide spectrum of emotions, and some enthusiastic champagne drinking 🥂(if they ever make this an Olympic sport, I’m a shoe-in🍾). However, the scary thing was that my usual clarity and focus about my career appeared to have disappeared…..I just didn’t care any more and had no interest in getting back into the corporate rat race…..WTF??!!

Which is why I now find myself heading to Europe to chase a business idea……